Structuring a text around the three-part essay

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Из курса от партнера Lund University

Writing in English at University

178 оценки

Lund University

Writing in English at University

178 оценки

Acquiring good academic research and writing skills early on is essential for your success both at university and in your professional life. This course aims: - to give you an understanding of the conventions of academic writing in English and to teach you the components and benefits of what is called process writing. - to help you to put together your own “toolbox” of academic writing skills, as well as to give you a chance to test out these tools and to reflect on your own development as a writer. - to encourage reflection on discipline specific conventions; although the course deals with generic skills, you will be able to apply these generic skills to meet the particular needs of your own discipline. The course consists of four modules: 1. Writing in English at university: An introduction 2. Structuring your text and conveying your argument 3. Using sources in academic writing 4. The writer’s toolbox: Editing and proofreading In each module you will find video lectures and reading assignments and assignments, such as quizzes, reflective self-assessment questions, as well as some peer review exercises in which you will have an opportunity to interact with other students taking the course.

Из урока

Structuring your text and conveying your argument

In module 1 we looked at some of the aspects that you will need to consider before embarking on an academic writing project. In module 2 we will build on this knowledge when we explore issues of building and shaping an academic text. In this week’s module you will learn about argument, types of essay structure, and also how to structure information within paragraphs and sections. Structuring a text so that it is coherent and makes sense to your target audience requires a great deal of thought, and we will guide you through the decisions that you will have to make in composing a text. Though the information in this module will be of interest to anyone looking to improve their academic writing competencies, you will find the material here especially helpful if you have a particular writing project of your own in mind to reflect on, and to which you can apply the ideas that we present here.

Structuring a text around the three-part essay4:42

Познакомьтесь с преподавателями

Satu Manninen
Professor
Centre for Languages and Literature
Ellen Turner
Senior Lecturer
Centre for Languages and Literature
Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros
Senior Lecturer
Centre for Languages and Literature

Hi, I'm Ellen.

In this video, I'm going to look at the three-part essay.

The three-part essay is a writing format that consists of introduction,

body and conclusion.

If you've been asked to write an essay and you haven't had any further instructions

about structure, then the three-part essay is where you should begin.

It is in fact the basis of all types of formal writing.

You might wonder why you need to follow a strict format in your essay writing.

Perhaps you wish instead that you could be more creative.

Well, since academic writing aims at presenting and discussing facts and

research-based results to an audience already interested in the topic,

clarity and trustworthiness are more important ingredients than the kind of

attention grabbing features that you will find in a piece of fiction, or

perhaps a newspaper article or advertisement.

Academic writing,

as well as reports in the corporate world, differ from fiction in a number of ways.

You're not writing a novel with narrative twists and

turns that enhance the element of surprise.

Academic audiences don't like surprises.

Any piece of academic writing in the formal register will have

an anticipated structure, and readers will know from the outset what to expect.

In other words, the transparency of text structure enables writers to efficiently

communicate their discussions and their results to their readers.

Let's now have a closer look at the three elements of the essay, the introduction,

the body, and the conclusion.

The introduction is the first part of the essay.

Its function is to present the topic of the text to the reader, and

more specifically to raise a question and

present the claim that will be made in the essay.

This is often referred to as the research question, and

the claim, the thesis statement.

There are two distinct types of information that you need in

an introduction.

Firstly, you need to provide some kind of background and

contextual information to frame the discussion.

And secondly, the argument that you're making in the essay has to be introduced.

This means that the introduction is the place where you, as a writer,

will have to pinpoint what your argument will be, and equally important,

state how you will present it.

Some kind of mapping statement is helpful to the reader.

This is a blueprint of the essay outline that will give the reader a preview of

what you will present.

After the introduction comes the main part of the essay, the body.

Depending on the length of the essay,

the body will consist of a number of paragraphs

or, in the case of a longer essay,

of a number of sections divided into paragraphs.

Regardless of whether the essay is short or long, the body of the essay is where

the discussion takes place, and where the results are presented.

The structure of the body of the essay depends on the kind of argument you

present and, of course, on the type of analysis carried out in the essay.

The body of the essay will also differ in appearance depending on your discipline.

A common format for scholarly text is the so called IMRaD structure.

IMRaD stands for introduction, method, results and discussion.

Here the body of the essay consists of methods, results and discussion parts.

The last part of any essay is the conclusion.

This is where you sum up your argument.

No new facts, results or ideas should be introduced at this stage.

Although you could point out topics or angles for further possible studies.

Conclusions are usually rather brief, perhaps one or

two paragraphs in a short essay.

Perhaps you've also heard of the 5-paragraph essay.

The classic so-called 5-paragraph essay consists of 1 introductory paragraph,

3 body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

So, as you can see,

this type of essay format is just one form of the three-part essay structure.

Longer essays, such as bachelor degree essays and

masters theses, use the extended version of this same format.

However, in these cases,

you'll find that you'll need to divide your discussion up into sections.

Structure-wise, a longer text is thus similar to a shorter one.

Each section will be structured according to the three-part format, including

an introductory passage, a body where the argument and analysis will be found,

and a concluding passage, which will also provide a transition to the next section.

[MUSIC]

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